1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to cables of fibrous or stranded material and in particular to terminal ends of such cables that are assembled with strain relief reinforcement to reduce fracture damage to individual fibers or strands from excessive flexing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A cable, and especially a plug-in cable that is frequently manipulated, suffers a good deal of flexing and related abuse adjacent to the point of termination. Electric appliance cords as well as optical cables commonly utilize some additional support adjacent terminal ends to improve reliability and longevity. In cables where the end termination is a rigid material, the transition from the elastic material to the rigid termination is particularly vulnerable to deterioration. Separation between the elastic support and the rigid termination results in severe stress on the cable at the point of such separation. Both mechanical and adhesive bonding approaches have been utilized with various degrees of success in preventing such separation. Adhesives that work well with the rigid material frequently provide poor adhesion to the elastic support material or the cable sheath.